Ken Armstrong

(PETERBOROUGH) City of Peterborough staff are a little frustrated.
The issue between the chair of the Peterborough-Lakefield Police Services Board and two Peterborough City councillors was never meant to go public, according to Brian Horton, chief administrative officer for the City. Now that it has, the City has released its one and only statement on the matter of board chair Ken Armstrong’s supposedly threatening calls to councillors Dean Pappas and Andrew Beamer, he says.
According to Mr. Horton, the City is obligated to investigate any official complaints which fall under its Workplace Harassment and Discrimination or Workplace Violence Prevention policies, and normally, those investigations and discussions are done behind closed doors.
The investigation into Mr. Armstrong’s phone calls, which were allegedly to sway the two councillors to vote to save the police service from dissolving, was meant to be confidential, says Mr. Horton, who adds the City was in the midst of organizing a discussion between all involved parties when news of the calls broke in the media.
“Between the time councillors came to me. . . and when we had a chance to sit down with everyone, the story broke,” he says. “Right off the bat, it gets off the rails.” adding the issue was further complicated when Mr. Armstrong’s lawyer went to media and questioned the motive behind the investigation.
Although Durham police found no grounds to lay criminal charges against Mr. Armstrong, Mr Horton says it was important for the City to issue its Dec. 11 statement, explaining why an investigation into the matter was warranted. The statement also seeks a public apology from Mr. Armstrong, and his immediate resignation from the police services board.
“Any of our employees have to feel free to bring forward complaints,” he says. “Imagine how the rest of our employees would feel if something happened, and based on what they’ve heard . . . maybe they wouldn’t say anything.”
Still, Mr. Horton says the release of the City’s statement was done extremely reluctantly and with a great deal of thought.
Mr. Horton couldn’t comment on whether Mr. Armstrong would have been asked to apologize and resign, had the private discussion taken place.
“If we were dealing with this on a confidential basis, that may or may not have been what was asked of him,” he says.
Mr. Armstrong wouldn’t comment on the release, or any plans to stick with or resign from the board, and referred all questions about the matter to his Toronto-based lawyer, Joseph Markson.
In a prepared statement, Mr. Markson says the City’s call for Mr. Armstrong’s resignation isn’t credible or responsible, adding Mr. Armstrong didn’t utter a statement that could be reasonably interpreted as a threat to use physical force.
“Mr. Armstrong is 77-years-old,” the statement reads. “He is a well-known and a respected member of the community with a distinguished record of public service. It is ridiculous for anyone who knows him to suggest that he would physically harm anyone. There is no air of reality to any such claim. . . The City jumped to the conclusion that he must be guilty of something that warrants his resignation. Regrettably, the City has compromised the due process and fairness that the City owes to Mr. Armstrong.”
Mr. Horton says the City has no way of reprimanding Mr. Armstrong, other than requesting he step down as board chair. If the issue had arose between two employees, the calls may have meant severe consequences for the offender, up to and including dismissal.
Mr. Horton says he hasn’t heard a response to the statement from Mr. Armstrong or his lawyer, but in all fairness, it was only sent out on Dec. 11.
According to the statement, during the councillors interviews with the Durham Regional Police, both Coun. Pappas and Coun. Beamer relayed the contents of their phone conversations with Mr. Armstrong, which were an attempt to sway their vote on the termination on the police services agreement between Lakefield and Peterborough.
“In addition to uttering threatening statements to Councillor Pappas, Mr. Armstrong threatened to use his influence in the community to discredit both Councillor Pappas and Councillor Beamer through TVCogeco’s current affairs show, Politically Speaking,” the statement reads. “. . .Although Durham Regional Police have determined that there are insufficient grounds to bring a criminal charge against Mr. Armstrong, the City has been informed that Mr. Armstrong’s threats to the councillors were deemed to be misconduct of a nature that would warrant a resignation or a suspension, if the Ontario Civilian Police Commission became involved.”
Coun. Pappas says he supports the City’s statement.
“I’m behind them all the way,” he says, referring further comment to Mr. Horton.
Coun. Beamer is also not commenting on the issue.
Mr. Horton says the City doesn’t plan on releasing any further statements on the issue, or any others like it.
“This is it,” he says. “We had to make sure the public understood.”